1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to electrical outlets in general, and more particularly to wall outlets of the so-called ground fault protection type.
2. Description of the Related Art
There are already known various constructions of electrical outlets, among them such that are of the ground fault protection variety, which means that they are equipped, besides the customary plug-in contacts and support and connection hardware associated with them, with a built-in electrical device of one kind or another (typically a circuit breaker and circuitry) that monitors the electric current flow to the "hot" contact (i.e. the contact supplied by the ungrounded conductor) and the "neutral" contact (i.e., the contact supplied by the grounded conductor) and interrupts the electrical continuity not only of the electrical path leading to the hot contact but also of that connected to the neutral contact when the magnitude of the difference in current between the two conductors is excessive. An example of such a ground fault protection outlet can be found in U.S. Pat. No. 4,618,907.
Such ground fault protection outlets have become more or less standard of late in new home construction, particularly as far as bathrooms, kitchens, garages, basements, outdoor outlets, or the like are concerned, especially because of the danger that a person could suffer electric shock or even become electrocuted due to one part of his or her body touching an exposed wire or other electrically conductive element that is electrically connected with the hot contact, and another part of the person's body simultaneously touching a grounded part or body, such as a faucet, water in the sink or bathtub or the like, even though still relatively low statistically, is particularly acute in this environment.
In the event that the hot and neutral supply conductors are reverse connected to their respective terminals, the ground fault protection outlet should still be able to interrupt the current to the hot contact. This is why the current ground fault protection outlets typically interrupt the electrical connection not only to the "hot" part but also to the "neutral" part of the "load" side of the electrical outlet.
Wall outlets of this kind, that is, such that are intended to be accommodated in outlet "boxes" and partially covered by wall plates (also referred to as escutcheons) are usually designed as "through" devices, that is, they are capable of being incorporated into the house wiring in that the "hot" and "neutral" wires of an electric current supply pair (line pair) are connected with a primary pair of connectors, and those of the pair leading to other electric current users (load pair) are secured to a secondary pair of connectors. The very fact that there are two pairs of connectors, and two pairs of wires to connect to them, gives rise to a strong possibility of miswiring which, if not detected and corrected during installation, could have tragic consequences later. Miswired ground fault protection outlets are thought to be widespread.
Therefore, precautions must be taken to prevent this miswiring from happening in the first place or, if permitted to occasionally occur, from persisting beyond the termination of the installation process. With the advent of relatively low electronic component prices coupled with relatively high and constantly rising labor costs, a point has been reached where it has become more economical to build certain monitoring or warning devices right into the wall outlet unit, rather than for the installer to spend additional time on trying to resolve how to properly wire the box or to figure out whether or not the outlet box is properly wired.